Bulgaria is ranked 51st among 183 countries in the Doing Business 2011 report, compiled by the International Finance Corp (IFC), the World Bank's private-sector lender.
According to the overall ranking, Bulgaria is lagging one position behind Qatar and is one place ahead of Botswana.
Bulgaria was also placed 51st in the Doing Business 2010 ranking, which indicates the business environment in the country has not changed drastically in comparison to last year. However, Bulgaria has moved up...

Bulgaria's agriculture has reached a "threateningly" high increase as a share of the country's GDP, according to Agriculture Minister Miroslav Naydenov.
Naydenov said Bulgaria's monthly trade surplus in August, the first in ten years, was largely due to the rise in exports of agriculture products.
He did not specify why exactly he termed the growth of agriculture as a GDP share as "threatening", and where he sees reasons for concern in that.
The Agriculture Minister awarded Thursday...

Bulgaria's capital will have even larger shopping centers than the malls opened in 2010 but those will not be inaugurated until two years from now, a report says.
The next shopping malls to be opened in Sofia will be giant for Bulgarian standards – of over 70 000 square meters of commercial space, an analysis of the Bulgarian economic newspaper Pari Daily.
The future Paradise Center mall will be opened at the end of 2012 on an area of 3.6 hectares on the Cherni Vrah Blvd in Sofia. It will...

Hikes in taxes and social contributions have helped prompt an increasing number of German companies to move base to Bulgaria, where lower taxes and EU regulations make it an easier place to do business, according to a German tax and law expert.
"A growing number of European companies are shifting their place of business to Bulgaria. Ever increasing taxes and social contributions make low tax jurisdictions like Bulgaria a more and more attractive country," Alexander Schinzing, Corporate...

British oil and gas explorer Melrose Resources is starting work at its Bulgarian deposits Kaliakra and Kavarna on Thursday, the Bulgarian Economy Ministry has announced.
In the summer, the Bulgarian government granted two weeks ago a ten-year concession for the extraction of natural gas to the UK company.
The stock of both deposits amounts to 2,5 billion cubic meters and is expected to provide at least 255 million cubic meters of natural gas per year by 2015.
The company foresees a...

Amendments in the Postal Services Bill, effective January 1, 2011, eliminate the monopoly of the Bulgarian Posts on small parcels – less than 50grams.
The cabinet approved Wednesday the amendments to include mostly the letters market, estimated by the Commission for Communications Regulation at BNG 30 M.
The amendments provide for loyal competition and opportunities for other businesses wishing to provide letter mailing services without legal obstacles, the government's press release...

Trans Balkan Investments Limited, known until recently as Equest Investments Balkans Limited, announced it has signed a preliminary agreement for the sale of Urvich, the former cinema site, with an unnamed Bulgarian real estate development company.
The deal was inked on 6 October 2010, the company said without disclosing its financial parameters.
Trans Balkan Investments Limited (TBIL) has been offloading assets from the portfolio of companies it owns in Bulgaria, including a few former...

Top French alpine skier Luc Alphand will be the one to open the new ski season in the largest Bulgarian mountain resort Bansko.
Alphand is the only person to have won the ski World Cup and the Dakar Rally.
He has several world ski championship medals from the mid 1990s. Alphand made his World Cup skiing debut in 1984. In 1997 he won the World Cup.
After that, he retired only to start a career in car racing. He won the 2006 Dakar Rally, in which he had finished runner-up a year earlier....

The world's largest low-cost airline, Irish company Ryanair, has released 1 million GBP 6 seats to celebrate the recent launch of a new route from London Stansted to the Bulgarian city of Plovdiv.
These low fares that include all taxes and charges will be available on over 500 of Ryanair's European routes but must be booked on www.ryanair.com before midnight this Thursday. They will be valid for travel on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays in December and January.
The Ryanair flights from...

Over twenty million people have visited the Bulgarian pavilion at the Shanghai Expo, which was closed on the last day of October.
The data was reported by the organizer of the Bulgarian participation – the Plovdiv Fair.
The highest-ranking visitor has been EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy, Catherine Ashton, who has been impressed by the Thracian treasure and the house in the traditional Bulgarian Renaissance architectural style.
The 2010 expo in Shanghai, China...

The Lyulin highway in Southwestern Bulgaria is to open for a trial period at the end of 2010, according to Bulgarian Minister on Regional Development, Rosen Plevneliev.
Plevneliev clarified that the trial is only going to take place, provided that all traffic safety measures are taken care of.
The Bulgarian Minister on Regional Development is on a routine monthly visit to Lyulin highway construction sites Tuesday together with Prime Minister Boyko Borisov.
The building of the highway...

The world's largest low-cost airline, the Irish company Ryanair, launches on Tuesday a new route from London Stansted to the Bulgarian city of Plovdiv.
"Plovdiv is Bulgaria's second largest city with a rich and varied history dating back 8,000 years. Plovdiv makes a great city break destination and is also within easy access of the ski resorts of Bansko and Pamporovo." a spokesperson of Ryanair has said.
The new London Stansted-Plovdiv airline is expected to draw about 30 000 passengers...

The Sofia municipal company "Metropolitan" has opened a public procurement procedure for 18 new trains for the Bulgarian capital subway.
The trains must be manufactured, delivered and start functioning in 2012, when the second metro line is expected to be completed.
The order lists BGN 10.8 M without Value Added Tax (VAT) as the maximum price for one train for the total of BGN 194.4 M.
The financing is from the EU operational program "Transport."
Requirements for bidders include...

The globally renowned travel guide Lonely Planet's has ranked Bulgaria fifth among the top 10 countries for 2011.
The first four spots are taken by Albania, Brazil, Cape Verde and Panama, while Vanuatu, Italy, Tanzania, Syria and Japan are behind Bulgaria.
"For those who looked, Bulgaria has always had its moments – in its biggest cities, on its snow-capped peaks and great-value ski fields, on its golden-sand beaches and in ancient Black Sea port towns. Yet, over the years, with...

The Plovdiv Regional Governor, Ivan Totev, will attend the ceremony for the official launch of regular flights between London and Bulgaria's second largest city of Plovdiv.
The flights would be executed by the budget career Ryanair.
The first passengers will land in Plovdiv at 11 am Tuesday at the Plovdiv airport brand new terminal.
Totev says regular flights from and to Plovdiv are one of the main steps towards the Region's economic recovery. Upon taking office, the Governor vowed to...

Bulgaria's Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, and Regional Minister, Rosen Plevneliev, launched Sunday repair works and reconstruction of the southern loop of the capital Sofia's beltway.
"Today's event shows that many things can happen with or without Finance Minister, Simeon Djankov, while this particular one would never happen without me, not in the next 20-30 years. Lots of money has been circulating and made here from these body shops and gas stations. People, who knew the beltway will...

Just hours after launching repair works on the Sofia beltway, Bulgaria's Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, opened construction of the "Skobeleva Mayka" junction near the second largest city of Plovdiv.
Borisov said even in times of crisis and budget deficit, his cabinet is dedicated to make things that Bulgarians have been waiting for in the last 20 years happen.
The PM pointed out the State has secured BGN 8 M in order to start the construction works of a junction of key importance since it...

For the first time a ski police will ensure the good public policy at the slopes of the Bulgarian resort Pamporovo this winter, local media has reported.
Regular police officers and teams of the tourist company "Pamporovo" will participate in the patrol, the new executive director of the holding, Mariyan Belyakov has stated, as cited by local media.
The goal is to avoid parking problems and incidents with drunken skiers and brawlers, violating the public order.
A total of 90 devices...

Sofia Municipal Council is considering introducing a parking fee waiver for the so-called "blue zone" for owners of electric cars, the Deputy Chair of the Council, Martin Zaimov has announced.
If implemented, the waiver will be valid only for the so-called "blue zone," which includes the areas near the busiest streets in Sofia.
Free parking for electric cars in the busiest city areas is a common practice in Norway. It has also been introduced in London for a while, but the influx made the...

Bulgaria will begin the tenders for two more lots of the southwestern highway Struma by December at the latest, according to Regional Development Minister Plevneliev.
Plevneliev said the government is ready to launch the tenders for the lots from the existing section near Sofia to the town of Dupnitsa, and from the Kulata border crossing to Sandanski.
One of the middle sections between Dupnitsa and Blagoevgrad, however, will be extremely hard to build because of the rough terrain, and the...